Solution of moving-boundary problems by the spectral element method

TL;DR

This paper introduces a spectral element method-based numerical model for accurately solving moving-boundary problems like free-surface flows and fluid-structure interactions using a moving-grid approach within the arbitrary Lagrangian--Eulerian framework.

Contribution

It presents a novel spectral element discretization combined with a moving-grid technique for complex moving-boundary fluid problems, demonstrating its effectiveness through 2D and 3D simulations.

Findings

High accuracy in simulating moving boundaries

Robustness in complex fluid-structure interactions

Successful application to large-amplitude sloshing

Abstract

This paper describes a novel numerical model aiming at solving moving-boundary problems such as free-surface flows or fluid-structure interaction. This model uses a moving-grid technique to solve the Navier--Stokes equations expressed in the arbitrary Lagrangian--Eulerian kinematics. The discretization in space is based on the spectral element method. The coupling of the fluid equations and the moving-grid equations is essentially done through the conditions on the moving boundaries. Two- and three-dimensional simulations are presented: translation and rotation of a cylinder in a fluid, and large-amplitude sloshing in a rectangular tank. The accuracy and robustness of the present numerical model is studied and discussed.